Ball (NYSE:BALL) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ball (NYSE:BALL) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $78.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $69.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BALL. Truist Financial reiterated a buy rating and set a $78.00 price target (up previously from $76.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ball from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Baird R W raised Ball from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Ball from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ball from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.85.

Ball Stock Up 1.5 %

BALL opened at $64.86 on Wednesday. Ball has a one year low of $42.81 and a one year high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.90.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 32.79%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Ball’s payout ratio is 6.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ball

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BALL. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in Ball during the first quarter worth $47,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ball by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Ball in the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Ball by 598.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ball by 2,341.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Company Profile

Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.